Now on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance, raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
When he saw them he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went along, they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He fell with his face to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (Now he was a Samaritan.)[1]
Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to the man, “Get up and go your way. Your faith has saved you.”
Now at one point the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming, so he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
This narrative stresses several themes we have been seeing in Luke’s gospel.
· Jesus has mercy on social outcasts. Jews did not travel between Galilee and Judea by going close to Samaria. Jesus had no problem doing so.[2] Meanwhile, foreigners (allogenēs) were warned not to enter the temple past the outer court.[3] Jesus is sending a pointed message: you stop foreigners from entering the Jerusalem temple, but here is one of them worshipping Jesus, the Son of God.
· On their way to the priests, the lepers were healed. File away somewhere that Jesus did not require saving faith from them to heal them. He just healed them without commenting on their faith. So they were healed, but the returning Samaritan was saved: “used principally of God rescuing believers from the penalty and power of sin – and into His provisions (safety).[4]Literally, his response of faith (trust) brought him salvation from his fallen state.[5] He received the greater healing - that of his soul.
· The Pharisees wanted a grand political upheaval or signs in the heavens – some impressive display of public power. Jesus said, “It’s not like that. The Kingdom doesn’t come with an outward show. It's not a visible, earthly, temporal kingdom which could be pointed out as being here or there.[6] The kingdom of God, “the dominion of righteousness”[7] was being manifested in Jesus among them, right in front of their eyes. Ten lepers had been cleansed of leprosy, and they basically yawned.[8] Do you remember Marvin the Martian? “There was supposed to be a kaboom!” They wanted political or cosmic fireworks that unleashed the power of God while failing to see the unleashing of power of God right in front of them.
So, Jesus told them the Kingdom of God had arrived. He followed this up with a cryptic warning/encouragement. This passage has been widely debated, along with the harmony passages in Luke 21, Mark 13 and Matthew 24 - 25. Jesus is talking to his disciples about how to prepare themselves for what’s to come, but his language is highly symbolic while referencing the Old Testament and Jewish colloquialisms.
Commentaries wrestle with whether or not Jesus, when referencing what will happen in “this generation,” was talking about spiritual realities, upcoming events within the lifetime of his audience, future events that usher in the end of history, or all three. I am increasingly of the opinion that he was prepping them for what they and the Jewish people would personally would face spiritually and physically,[9] so that’s how I’m going to approach it this morning.[10] I will include plenty of footnotes. Luke seems to focus on the implications of Jesus’ death and resurrection (spiritual realities), while the other gospels land more heavily on the coming destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. We will reference both.
To be cIear, I could be wrong :) . This is a great passage that should lead us into discussion as we strive to understand God’s word together. No matter what, this message would end with the same timeless encouragement, so let’s work our way there.
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Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.”
Already, I have questions. Jesus just said the Kingdom is here. Then he told them they were going to long to see the days of the Son of Man, but they won’t, so that must be something different. Clearly, the disciples to whom he is speaking are going to go through a lot of difficulty as they wait for something in the Kingdom that has not yet happened. And yet…
Matt 10:23: "But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes."
Mark 14:62, Jesus tells the high priest, “From now on you shall see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
And here, I think is the interpretive key. Son of Man is a term Daniel is famous for using. Most commentaries will tell you Jesus is wanting his audience to remember this passage from Daniel 7:13-14:
“I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”
When the Son of Man comes in Daniel, he’s not coming to earth. He’s coming to the throne room of God to take his place at the Father’s right hand and establish his heavenly Kingdom. This is not what people expect of a King taking his place on a throne.
People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them.
In Acts 5, Rabbi Gamaliel speaks of two such messianic pretenders: Theudas, and Judas the Galilean, who led a revolt against the Romans.
In Acts 21:38, Paul is suspected by the Roman temple guard of being the Egyptian who led four thousand Jews to the Mount of Olives.
Josephus wrote of such prophets and messiahs as dangerous criminals bent on leading the nation to destruction. Josephus claims Felix executed imposters almost every day.[11]
For the Son of Man in his day[12] will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
That lighting imagery makes me think of the newly arisen Jesus.
“There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.” (Matthew 28:2-4)
Back to the text. Jesus must suffer many things and be rejected by the generation of people who crucified him. What will be happening in the world as these things happen? Nothing like some good Old Testament imagery to give them some hyperlinks.
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
People will be doing ordinary things, going about life, not aware that everything is about to change. In the two examples he gives, a judgment is rendered on the sinfulness of the world. This will happen on the cross. The ultimate judgment is rendered: the wages of sin is death. Of course, the ultimate salvation is offered at the same time: “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)[13] Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, he shows that He has conquered the devil, death, hell, and the grave (1 Corinthians 15:55-57; Revelation 1:18; Hosea 13:14; 2 Timothy 1:10; Hebrews 2:14-15). He takes captivity captive and gives good gifts to mankind (Ephesians 4:8-10). He crushes the serpent’s head (Romans 16:20).
On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.
Choices will need to be made. What matters most: the things of this world, or the things of Heaven? If you try to hang on to this world, you will lose your life. If you let go of this world, you embrace life in the most profound way possible.
I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” “[Taken] where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the eagles[14]/vultures will gather.”[15]
Those being taken are going somewhere with dead bodies and vultures. This is clearly a reference to judgment; the image is certainly not of “heaven.” Commentaries will tell you this is likely the valley of Ben-Hinnom (Gehenna), the city dump used for incinerating garbage, dead animals, and executed criminals. This is also where the poorest of the poor lived, having been denied housing in the city or the outlying villages connected with the city.
“On that day” during the days of the Son of Man, they will have to choose an empire of material things or a kingdom of spiritual things. “On that night,” the consequences of that choice begin. Some will stay and live within the provision of the Kingdom; those who reject the Kingdom will live outside the Kingdom, much to their grief (weeping) and frustration (gnashing of teeth).
The parallel section of Matthew 24-25 ends with the Parable of the Sheep and Goats by concluding, “And [the goats] will go to the chastening/pruning of the Age, but the just [sheep] to the life of the Age.” (Matthew 25:46, DBH translation). That translation suggests there is something that happens now, in this age, that is a consequence of our choice of whether we want to enter the Kingdom or not. Jesus elsewhere (Mark 9)[16] described Gehenna as a place where “the worms that eat [the corpses] do not die, and the fire is not quenched.”[17] Then he adds, “Everyone will be salted with fire,” which seemed to include something relevant to present reality if everyone gets it.
I wonder if there is some sense in which we choose our fire. We can accept the fire of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to purify our hearts and minds – and that will be a fire. Repentance and reconciliation when we have sinned against others; practicing humility; embracing truth even if we don’t like it; extending grace even when we don’t want to; practicing the sacrificial lifestyle of agape love; being relentlessly honoring and kind. That will burn through wood, hay and stubble like a fire.
Or… we can endure the wages of sin, reaping the consequences of sinful choices as we weep and grind our teeth. We can be the prodigal stuck in a sin-filled pig sty eating pig food until we come to our senses. That, too, is a fire. Everyone will be salted with fire.
Lk 18:1 Then Jesus told them a parable to show them they should always pray and not lose heart.
They need this right now. Following Jesus is going to be hard. Remember, they will be longing for a glimpse of God at work, to feel God’s presence, to know in the midst of trials that God is with them and for them. History tells us (and the parallel passages break it down more) how brutal life was for the Jewish people leading up to the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70: wars, famine, persecution, natural disasters. For Jewish people following Jesus, they are going to suffer for being Jewish and for following Jesus. Almost all of the disciples will be killed for their faith. They are going to need hope.
He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. There was also a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
For a while he refused, but later on he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, yet because this widow keeps on bothering me (“gives me a black eye”), I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out by her unending pleas.’ “
And the Lord said, “Listen to what [even an] unrighteous judge says! How much more will God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night.[18] [Like a farmer waiting for a ripe harvest, he will not delay long[19] to help them when the harvest time has arrived]. I tell you, he will then vindicate them speedily.[20]
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes,[21] will he find [the kind of persistent] faith(fullness) in this land[22] that trusts God to [bring justice and vindicate his people]?”
“To show them they should always pray and not lose heart.” The lesson of the parable is not that God is reluctant to be bothered with our needs, so we should keep pulling on his arm going, “Dad, dad, hey dad, daddaddaddaddad” until he annoyingly yanks his arm away and says, “WHAT!?!?” His point is that if an unjust judge would answer the request of a widow he doesn't even know, how much more will a loving, righteous, generous God hear the prayers of his children?
Have times been tough throughout history for followers of Jesus? Have there been times when we have been tempted to lose heart, to wonder why on earth God is not showing up NOW in ways we want God to show up? Will we contribute to the persistent faith(fullness) in our land that trusts God to bring justice, to be faithful, to never leave or forsake us?”
Can we live in prayer-filled hope? The whole section we read this morning tells a crucial message: the Kingdom has arrived; Jesus is Lord; don’t lose hope. Keep praying. Stay in “constant involvement with God as we interpret and deal with the world in which we live.”[23]
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12)
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[1] “It echoes Elisha’s healing of a Gentile (2 Kgs 5:1–19a), which Jesus notes at the beginning of his ministry.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)
[2] As noted in the NIV Women’s Study Bible
[3] NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible
[4] HELPS Word-studies
[5] ESV Global Study Bible. “They all had faith to be healed but only one out of the ten turned back to thank the Lord… Your faith has made you well” suggests that whereas the nine were cleansed from leprosy, the tenth was also saved from sin!” (Believers Bible Commentary)
[6] Believer’s Bible Commentary
[7] Asbury Bible Commentary
[8] Now, “The kingdom of God is a spiritual reality present within the Christian believer and within the community of the Church.” (Orthodox Study Bible)
[9] Check out Adam Clarke’s commentary on Matthew 24. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/acc/matthew-24.html
[10] Jesus constantly references “this generation,” and it’s…that generation J Matthew 24:34 “Truly, I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” Matthew 11:16 (cf. Luke 7:31) “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates.” Matthew 12:39 (cf. Mark 8:12; Luke 11:29) “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Matthew 12:41 “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it… Matthew 12:42 “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it….”Matthew 12:45 “Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” Matthew 16:4 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign…” Matthew 17:17 (Mark 9:19; Luke 9:41) “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? ” Matthew 23:36 “Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” Luke 11:50-52 “…so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.”
[11] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament
[12] ‘Notice that in this passage, the "coming" of the "son of man" is not a coming here, but rather a coming before the throne of God in heaven: he is "presented" before God and found worthy of authority. The “coming” described in Daniel 7 is not a descent or “return” from heaven to earth, but the opposite: the “son of man” is carried by clouds into heaven and enters into the holy presence of God, whereupon he receives an eternal kingdom.’ (“What Is The Coming Of The Son Of Man? https://www.mercyonall.org/posts/what-is-the-coming-of-the-son-of-man)
[13] I like David Bentley Hart’s translation: “For sin’s wages are death, but God’s bestowal of grace is the life of the Age in Anointed, Jesus Christ.”
[14] “Sometimes a reference is supposed to the eagle-standards of Rome. (Comp. Deuteronomy 28:49-52; John 11:48.) This is very possible especially as the Jews were very familiar with the Roman eagle, and so strongly detested it that the mere erection of the symbol in Jerusalem was sufficient to lash them into insurrection (Jos. Antt. xvii. 6, § 3).” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)
[15] We find this phrase in Matthew 24 also, which concludes by saying “this generation will not pass away” before seeing the signs of the Messiah. As the Good News translation puts it, “Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died.”
[16] See notes from that sermon here: https://www.clgonline.org/sermonblog/2023/12/10/harmony-53-who-is-the-greatest-mark-933-50-matthew-181-14-luke-946-50-171-3?rq=salted%20with%20fire
[17] Isaiah 66
[18] Revelation 6:9-11
[19] “In James 5:7 it is applied to the husbandman waiting for harvest. Here it is applied to God’s…coming to the help of tried saints.” (Expositor’s Greek Testament)
[20] Habakkuk 2:3 “For the vision points ahead to a time I have appointed; it testifies regarding the end, and it will not lie. Even if there is a delay, wait for it. It is coming and will come without delay.”
[21] “This probably refers to the approaching destruction of Jerusalem - the coming of the Messiah, by his mighty power, to abolish the ancient dispensation and to set up the new.” (Barnes’ Notes On The Bible)
[22] “The discussion had particular reference to their trials and persecutions in that land. This question implies that "in" those trials many professed disciples might faint and turn back.” (Barnes’ Notes On The Bible)
[23] Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables of Jesus, by Klyne Snodgrass